Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1887-02-16

Drag Of, but, being his only article OF
property, he could not afford to laugh
very heartily at such sallies.
He himself was nothing extra to
ook at, if you came to that. A long,
thin figure, clad in the rustic's coarse
garments; broad. felt hat conceallng
his brown hair, and Tapping over his
thin face-a face fairly disfgured with !
great freckles, but lit by q pair OF gray |
eyes alive with boyish love of excite
ment. Jim Rowell was not a bad tel
low, but the delight, the rapture OF
bounding over the prairie In company
and on horseback was always too
strong q temptation for his prudent
resolves.
A ride, q long, swift, glorious ride
over sandy levels; between brown
bluffs; past an occasional farmhouse,
where stacks stand yellow and tall;
through rafting skeletons OF thickets
and shallow sweeps OF water; up,
down and across, until the patriarch
of the herds starts up before them.
The cattle he has been lying among
scatter out lazily, but old Abe meets
his foes with the glare of a gladiator.
u
Look at his wide horns, ciroled with
the rings OF many years; at the pow
erful muscles showing beneath his
tawny hide, and the long limbs that
have crushed through many a strong
enclosure. Nothing about him tells OF
ownership; there is neither cut on his
ears nor scar on his hide. No round
up could gather him in, nor corral Sc
cure him; therefore, q convention OF
ecow-punchers" suggested q general &C.
ton against the outlaw, and the words
were uttered at time when any di-
version was welcome. To mortals
condemned to the endless solitude aud
soul-wearying monotony of those vast
level plains, the time must come when
even q shooting scrape is hailed with
glad relief.
s'Thar he is, boys!" shouts Tom
Jenkins. s'Tharl Ketch him and he's
yourni"
GA DEVILS prize at the best, but
here goes" muttered Thompson,
pushing forward with the boy beside
him.
Hi! The dogs are at him, with
barks that become yelps as the brin-
die gives them q taste of his heels.
Down the valley, over the uplands and
the dry creek bottoms, away they GO,
in a. noisy race against the crisp west
wind, tornado of gathering hoofs,
jingling spurs and loose trapplngs.
The sun beats hot upon them, the
dust flies up from the plain. One by
one the dogs sneak off to the rear, the
ponies flag; yet old Abe is as fresh for
break of mile or so, as ready for g.
savage dash at a timid horse or rider.
"GIve it upl He amt wuth It'll"
cry the weak spirits, drawing rein upon
q hill, the defiant brute cycling them
from q distance.
"Do ez you please" growled Long
Jake, "but ef you fellers quit won't,
that's ALL"
"Neither will I,"put in Jimmy, look
ing foolish, as g. laugh was raised at
his expense.
"The devil you won't!" retorted
the other. because sqNarelo look at
you would scare him to death any
day" He turned away. glad to have
avenged his former defeat. That
readiness of tongue which others
laughed at and passed over in the
boy angered the herder unaccounta-
bly,. Besides, he felt sore at the fail
ure of his boast to capture the prize
in an hour.
"Come on, boys" proposed Jen-
kins. "My camps just around the
bend. If we can run him down into
the big stone corral, we've got him
sure; if not, let's stop and take a fresh
start in the morning"
Gail right" chorused the others.
"Look yere, Jimmy" said Al
Thompson, as their two horses trotted
down the slope together, ''ycu jes'
take my advice an let Jake alone.
It's precious easy to get him hot, an
they say he killed a man down on the
Divide"
"Oh, give us q rest, amt afraid.
Why does he keep trying to rifle me all
the time just because Pm boy. It's
too mean"
$50 ahead, then. You're pretty
smart, Jim Rowell, but / tell you it
don't do no Teller good to be too
smart; mebbe you'll find it out some
day"
The second chase proved no more
successful than the first. Cunning OLD
Abe put in his "best ticks" for then
enlightenment, and when they gave il
up still seemed unwearied. Tom sprane
from his horse to do the honors of his
residence.
"Light, gentlemen, light and make
yourselves at home. Things is little
out of order, consequent on the missus
not having got back from Saratogy
but you'll find the mornin' papers II
the lib'ry. The key of the pianos or
the bureau in my dressin' room. E
you like, take turns in admirin' the
scenery, the long shadders of the chick
ems fallin' to the east ard, an the king
ly rooster as he glides forth, from the
barn."
The mansion whose hospitality was
offered in this grandiloquent style was
an extremely scaly.looking dug-out
| probably measuring 10 by IL feet
Outside inspection revealed one small
door and window, q variegated supply
of oyster cans, barrels and not a few
empty bottles--which last, however